Joe S. Jackson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
July 1871[1]
Joe S. Jackson | |
|---|---|
 Jackson from 1907 Spalding Guide | |
| Born | Joseph Samuel Jackson July 1871[1] Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Died | May 19, 1936 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Sportswriter |
| Known for | President, Baseball Writers' Association of America, 1908–1919 |
Joseph S. Jackson (July 1871 – May 19, 1936) was an American sportswriter and editor for the Detroit Free Press, The Washington Post and The Detroit News. He was the founder and first president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, holding the office from 1908 to 1919.
Jackson was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1871. At the time of the 1900 United States census, he was living in Providence and working as a reporter.[1] He worked for six years for the Providence Telegram from 1895 to 1901 and became the newspaper's Sunday and sporting editor.[2]
Sportswriter
In November 1901, Jackson was hired to replace Ray M. Ziegler as the sporting editor of the Detroit Free Press,[2] a position he held until 1910.[3] In addition to his editorial duties, Jackson published a regular column titled "Sporting Facts and Fancies",[4] and feature stories on the major sports events in the city. He covered Michigan Wolverines football in the era of Fielding H. Yost's "Point-a-Minute" teams and the Detroit Tigers during the early years of Ty Cobb's career in Major League Baseball. Jackson is credited with having given Cobb the nickname, "The Georgia Peach".[5] In 1910, he became the sports editor of The Washington Post.[3] He published a regular column in The Washington Post called Sporting Facts and Fancies. After three years in Washington, D.C., Jackson returned to Detroit as a sports writer and editor for The Detroit News-Tribune. He subsequently returned to the Detroit Free Press.[6]
Baseball Writers' Association of America
In 1908, Jackson and Jack Ryder of the Cincinnati Enquirer organized the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).[7] The BBWAA was established in response to ongoing disputes over working conditions in, and control over, press boxes. The press boxes at many fields were cramped, and team owners had begun to offer seating in the press boxes to actors, friends and others who were not members of the working press. Frequently, there was no room for reporters from the visiting team.[8][9] The issue came to a head during the 1908 World Series between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs when visiting baseball writers in Chicago were seated in the back row of the grandstand and in Detroit "were compelled to climb a ladder to the roof of the first base pavilion and write in the rain and snow".[10]
The organization was established at a meeting held at the Pontchartrain Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, on October 14, 1908, following the 1908 World Series.[5][11] Jackson was selected as the organization's first president and held that position for 11 years from 1908 to 1919.[12][13] When Jackson stepped down as president in October 1919, the Association presented him with "a handsome traveling bag".[14]